Marie Curie named the element polonium after her native country, Poland.
Marie and Pierre Curie announced polonium in 1898 while investigating pitchblende, a uranium ore that was more radioactive than its known ingredients could explain. Their measurements suggested that the ore contained an unknown, intensely radioactive element. They named it polonium from the Latin name for Poland, “Polonia.”
The name carried political meaning. Poland was partitioned among Russia, Prussia, and Austria and did not exist as an independent state when the element was discovered. Curie hoped the new name would draw international attention to Poland’s lack of sovereignty. Polonium was the first element discovered by the Curies and one of the earliest identified primarily through radioactivity.
A common mix-up is radium, which the Curies also discovered in 1898. Radium was named for its radioactive properties, while polonium was named for Curie’s homeland. Polonium is a rare, highly radioactive chemical element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84.